ESPN’s theme song for the 2023 college football season is “Something Real” by Post Malone and it’s a very interesting choice.
THEport network always chooses a song to represent the new season, and to be honest, the choices in recent years have been pretty disappointing.
Now, ESPN has selected a song that contains questionable lyrics, certainly not intended for children with Malone “Something true.”
“ESPN has always celebrated the unique connection between music and college football. For 10 seasons, the ESPN College Football anthem music has been the foundation of our promotion of college football, growing and evolving as the sport does. Post Malone is a renowned artist whose music is as diverse and passionate as college football fans – and “Something Real; is a lead that lives up to the dynamic season ahead of us,” Curtis Friends, ESPN’s senior director of marketing, said in a Tuesday statement.
It’s all very well claiming that the song “lives up to the dynamic season” that awaits fans, and the version released by ESPN was cut down to 82 seconds.
However, the unreleased version of the song contains references to sex, pills, hell, psychedelics, drinking to the point of passing out, suicide and much more.
Let’s take a quick look at some lyrics:
Prada on my dick, Prada on my sleeve
Give me something, something real (Yeah)
I could play this pussy like it’s “Für Elise”…
Throw a million at it, problem, throw it a pill
Still here, addicted to signing another deal…
No passage fees to the gates of hell, no VIP
Everyone is lining up…
How much psilocybin can a human eat?
Give me something I can feel (Yeah)
Whiskey lullaby just to fall asleep…
I would trade my life just to be at peace
You can listen to the full version below.
This seems like a terrible choice on ESPN’s part.
Now, it’s also worth noting that almost all of this was removed from the version promoted by ESPN, but there was definitely an F-bomb that was censored. This is clear to anyone with ears.
I would say the real question is why is a song that seems aimed at a moody teenager a college football theme song? Do not mistake yourself. There is a time and place for “something real.”
Post Malone is very talented. He makes very solid music, and the point of this song seems to be that all these terrible addictions lead to bad things in life, even suicide. This is a very adult message, and not necessarily incorrect.
However, is it appropriate for a Saturday morning with the family to watch College GameDay? I would say no. Even though it is edited, the unedited version is completely inappropriate for young people. There is literally an explicit warning on Spotify.
Again, the song isn’t bad. After a few light beers as an adult or maybe after your prom date rejected you as a high schooler, you play and vibe with it.
The music often associated with college football should be upbeat and prepare you to run through a wall. “Something Real” makes me question life decisions.
Where is the rock music? Where is the outlaw country music? Where is something that prepares you for combat without wondering if you have a substance abuse problem? Below is a link to a full list of hits that would have been great.
How about “Jump Around,” “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” “Build Me Up Buttercup” or any other classic? Make sense of this. Let me know if I’m right or if you disagree in the comments below.
